Face to Face

Face To Face - Three Chords And A Half Truth (2013) {Rise Records 195-02}
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© 2013 Rise Records / Antagonist Records | RISE 195-02
Rock / Punk Rock / Alternative Rock / Punk Revival / New Wave / Skatepunk / Punk Pop

There's no arguing his sincerity when Trever Keith bellows "I don't want this to end!" to finalize Three Chords and a Half Truth. Face to Face started in the early '90s, opening for bands like the Offspring and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and yet they continue to go strong. After a few minor road bumps, for the 2010s they have managed to release an album every year, and for their 2013 outing the energy is still fully intact. Aside from some weightier production, there isn't much to separate the sound of the band from the early days, and that's a good thing.

Face To Face - Big Choice (1994) {2016 Remaster with 2 Bonus Tracks Fat Wreck Chords FAT 971-2}
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© 1994, 2016 Antagonist Records / Fat Wreck Chords | FAT 971-2
Rock / Punk Rock / Alternative Rock / Punk Revival / New Wave / Skatepunk / Punk Pop

The success of the hit single "Disconnected" on Los Angeles radio station KROQ catapulted Face to Face to a new level of popularity, causing their 1995 release, Big Choice, to sell more than 100,000 copies – a first for the southern California punk band. "Disconnected" had appeared on their previous album Over It, but the band redid it for Big Choice, making it a bit heavier and adding a somewhat humorous exchange with a "record producer" about whether to include the song on the album because they didn't want to be labeled sell-outs. The conversation ends with the band declaring "there's no way in hell this song is going on this record" and then launching right into "Disconnected."

Strut revives a lost recording from the archives in January with a 2002 collaboration between acclaimed South African folk singer Vusi Mahlasela, singer songwriter Norman Zulu and Swedish jazz / soul collective Jive Connection.

For Romain Leleu, what we call “classical” music could never have gained all its richness and variety without absorbing manifold influences from “popular” music that continues to be its fuel since the dawn of time! Parallel to the release of his album of film music prominently featuring the trumpet, the French virtuoso, backed by his friends and partners in the Romain Leleu Sextet, has brought into a face to face dialogue a selection of hit tunes from far-flung sources that transcend genres and national borders.

Kevin Eubanks' first album with a string section is a triumph of good taste, both in the guitarist's gently swinging work and in GRP chief Dave Grusin's unobtrusive, intelligent, unsentimental string charts. Grusin's gorgeously recorded strings seem to seep into the texture, filling the spaces with just enough mortar. The backings alternate between an electric group – with Marcus Miller on bass and Grusin applying the Yamaha DX7 electric piano sound – and often just Ron Carter on acoustic bass (plus the strings, of course).

Gary Burton & Makoto Ozone - Face To Face (1995) {GRP 98052}
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© 1995 GRP Records | GRP 98052
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano / Vibraphone

This set of duets between vibraphonist Gary Burton and pianist Makoto Ozone is a bit of a surprise, not the quiet and introverted date one might expect but a consistently exciting outing. The duo (who first started working together back in 1982) clearly inspires each other and a lot of sparks fly. The music ranges from three of Ozone's diverse originals and Astor Piazzola's "Laura's Romance" to a pair of Thelonious Monk tunes, a few standards and a romping version of the Benny Goodman-associated "Opus Half"; on the latter Ozone plays some creditable stride piano. More than half of the selections are taken at medium-to-fast tempos and, whether it be "Blue Monk," a memorable version of Jobim's "O Grande Amor" or a heated rendition of Steve Swallow's "Eiderdown," this is a highly enjoyable outing, one of Burton's finest of the past decade.

Oscar Peterson and Freddie Hubbard - Face To Face (1982) {Pablo Japan VICJ-60866, Cardoard Sleeve, 20bit K2 rel 2001}
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© 1982, 2001 Pablo Records / Fantasy / Victor Japan | VICJ-60866
Jazz / Post Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Trumpet / Piano

Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard met the Pablo All-Stars for this unique and frequently exciting set. Inspired by the presence of pianist Oscar Peterson, guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen and drummer Martin Drew, Hubbard stretches out on five numbers which include "All Blues," his own "Thermo" and "Portrait Of Jenny." A combative player, Hubbard both challenges and is challenged by the remarkable pianist; pity they did not record together more often.